Pakistan's President Recovering In Dubai

Pakistan's prime minister says that President Asif Ali Zardari may need two weeks to rest in Dubai following medical treatment there before he returns home.

There has been much speculation over the political future of the 56-year-old Zardari since he flew to Dubai last week for treatment related to a heart condition.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, in an interview with the BBC broadcast late on December 11, said that Zardari had not suffered a stroke nor offered to resign.

Zardari has been under intense pressure over alleged attempts by a close aide to seek U.S. help to limit the power of the military.

Gilani also told the BBC that Pakistan's blockade of the main supply route for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan was likely to stay in place for "weeks."

Pakistan closed its two border crossings and also ordered U.S. personnel to vacate an air base following a border strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

The military said on December 11 that the United States had vacated the Shamsi air base, which is believed to have been used in CIA drone attacks against Al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistan's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

The Pakistani military says the November 26 air strike was a deliberate attack, an allegation Washington denies.